Mass Effect - Remnants of Cerberus
by Durai
Summary: Commander Shepard has defeated both the Reapers and Cerberus, and now Ashley Williams and James Vega are in charge of the Normandy. But Cerberus wasn't gone after all...
1. Chapter 1 - Threat Issue

**Mass Effect Fan Fiction – Remnants of Cerberus**

Chapter 1 – Threat Issue

The war with the Reapers had been devastating, but thanks to Commander Shepard, the war ended with the destruction of the Reapers. Technology had been repaired since then and civilizations flourished once again. But the war was not without cost.

The Batarians had been all but wiped out. There were only a few left, and they would have a hard time repopulating their home planet. The Asari homeworld Thessia had been completely decimated when the Reapers hit. Rebuilding was still in progress. The Turian homeworld, Palaven, had also been completely destroyed by the Reapers. The Turians were still rebuilding, even after five years.

Admiral Hackett now had a base back on Earth, he retired from commanding an Alliance Dreadnought. He had seen enough action. With the deaths of Admiral Anderson and Commander Shepard, Hackett had to see to it their positions were taken over. His choices were clear.

The command of the Normandy had now gone to Ashley Williams. She was a Spectre, and since she was Lieutenant-Commander under Shepard's command, she was now Commander and captain of the Normandy. Her second-in-command was Lieutenant James Vega, now Lieutenant-Commander. He had also been recruited as an N7 soldier, and Ashley would supervise over his training as an N7.

The Normandy SR-2 was still the best ship the Alliance had. A stealth warship, it was a fairly large ship with an absurd agility for a ship that size. The ship had been built by Cerberus, a pro-human organization who turned against everyone during the Reaper War. It was given to Commander Shepard to defeat the Collectors, entities later known to be indoctrinated Protheans, under control by the Reapers.

But the days of real combat were over. The Normandy was now a peacekeeper. Whenever disputes would pop up, the Normandy would fly in and its crew would resolve the situation. But it wasn't too long before the peace was broken once more.

Ashley woke up. She had been sleeping in her captain's cabin. This used to be Shepard's cabin. She shook her head, she had to get over the fact that he was dead. She got up and picked her casual wear – loose pants with an N7 hoodie. It had been left behind by Shepard, but it fitted her just fine. The hoodie was one of the only memories she had of him.

She took the elevator to Deck 3, the Crew Deck. She saw James at the stoves. 'Hey James, you making eggs again?' Ashley said. James looked up and smiled when he recognized Ashley. 'Hey, Ash. Yeah, I'm making my abuela's huevos rancheros. You want some?' Ashley grinned. 'Some eggs will do me good, thanks.' She sat down at the table and James put down two plates; one for Ashley and one for himself.

Before James could say anything, Ashley said: 'Hey, do you remember what you said at the Citadel, in Shepard's apartment? When he was giving a party? You said something in Spanish. I know we were drunk, but what'd you say again?' James grinned. 'Ashley… Tú con tántas curvas, y yo sin frenos,' he said. Ashley blushed. 'Damn, that sounds good!' she murmured.

'What does it actually mean?' she asked. Before James could bend over to tell her, an alarm went off. Ashley cursed and stood up. 'What the hell's going on?!' she yelled. Via the intercom, Joker said: 'No clue what it is, Commander, but its signs look an awful lot like our own!' Ashley nodded at James. 'Grab your gear, I'm gonna see what's going on,' she said. James saluted and headed to the shuttle bay, where the armory could be found as well.

Ashley stepped into the bridge and opened up the bridge hatches for a visual on what was attacking them. Joker made annoyed sounds as something hit the ship. 'Commander, I don't know what that thing is, but the readings tell me that it's another Normandy!' he said. Ashley frowned. 'How the hell is that possible?!' she yelled over the sound of another explosion.

Then the bridge was hit directly. An explosion blew Joker out of his chair, but he was still alive. However, the bridge had been torn apart and the Normandy was now rudderless. Ashley cursed and put her breather helmet on. When she looked behind her she saw everyone else doing the same.

She started to run toward the shuttle bay, but someone blocked her way before she could reach the elevator. And it wasn't one of her own crew members. This man was wearing Cerberus colors! Before Ashley could react, she was knocked out.

James heard the explosion and looked up. 'Damn, those pendejos just won't give up!' he yelled. Then he ducked away to dodge incoming fire. He got up and shot at one of the men, hitting him in the head. At the same moment, however, his shields were hit and destroyed. 'Damn it, who are these guys?!' he grunted. When he got up to fire another shot, his face was greeted by a fist.

'Load 'em all into the ship, quick!' one of the Cerberus Troopers yelled. 'We have to get out of here before the Alliance realizes what happened! And someone destroy that SR-2!' As the blast door to his own ship closed, it fired a few shots at the Normandy and it tore the ship apart. They were gone long before the Normandy exploded and its remains crash-landed on Eden Prime.

**Hope you enjoyed this beginning of a new fan fiction, next chapters are gonna be longer, so stay tuned for more action!**


	2. Chapter 2 - Imprisoned

**Remnants of Cerberus**

Chapter 2 – Imprisoned

Ashley woke up slowly, her head still hurt from the punch that broke right through her helmet. She let everything in slowly, and she realised that the SR-2 must have been destroyed. Before she could utter a sound, though, another grunt next to her scared her. She stood up, but sighed out of relief when she noticed that it was James next to her.

'James, what the hell is going on?' she asked. James shook his head in anger and sadness. 'Those assholes captured most of the crew and destroyed the Normandy. Donnelly and Chakwas have been killed already.'

Ashley hit the wall. 'DAMN IT! And is it really who I think it was? Was it really Cerberus who attacked us?' James nodded as he stood up. 'Yeah. I thought Shepard took care of The Illusive Man years ago. Guess someone else out there is continuing Cerberus…'

Then someone appeared in front of their cell. To their surprise, this man looked almost identical to The Illusive Man. Only his eyes were different, they were normal. He wasn't smoking, either. But when he started talking, it sounded exactly the same.

'I thought the Alliance knew better than to mess with my plans by now,' Illusive Man said. Ashley narrowed her eyes. 'You were dead. Shepard killed you on the Citadel.' Illusive Man laughed. Do you really think I hadn't taken precautions? That was the real me, I'm one of His many clones!'

James cursed. 'And you think we won't take you down, just like last time?' Illusive Man grinned. 'Look around you, farm boy. Do you see Reapers around to indoctrinate us this time? I don't think so. I'm going to let the Alliance pay for what they did to Cerberus. And then I'll lead humanity into an era where we don't need aliens anymore!'

James sighed. 'Oh boy, here he goes again with the xenophobic shit…' Ashley looked around. 'Where are we, anyway?' she asked. Illusive Man pointed around. 'What, you don't recognize this place? Alright, tell you what…' and he moved closer to the entrance of the cell. 'Have you ever been inside a Normandy prison?' he asked.

Ashley's eyes widened. 'You've got to be joking…' she muttered. James stood up and looked out of the cell. And Illusive Man was right, it looked an awful lot like the SR-2. Illusive Man spread out his arms. 'Welcome to the SR-3, the most advanced ship in the galaxy!' he yelled. Ashley bit her lip when she saw one of the Cerberus Troopers cringe from the sudden loud sound of Illusive Man's voice.

James just looked around, to see anything that could be of use. But the prison bay was absolutely empty of usefulness, he realised Ashley and he were stuck in this cell until they were busted out. If only they would be that lucky…

Illusive Man then made a gesture towards one of the Cerberus Troopers and the Trooper opened up the cell. Illusive Man then pointed at Ashley and James and cuffs flew around their wrists immediately, blocking all hand mobility. 'Why don't I give you two a tour?' he said, 'I'm sure you'd love what I've done with this new model!

Ashley, unable to resist, walked along with Illusive Man. James tried to headbutt one of the troopers, but only hurt his own head because the trooper had a helmet on. Ashley would usually laugh at behavior like this, but the current situation refrained her from doing so.

They were led into the elevator and while going up, Illusive Man started talking. 'I've decided to name this ship Chronos, after the station the Alliance destroyed. It has seven floors, one of which you were just in. In total, we have a prison, a shuttle bay, an engineering floor, a crew deck, a special weapons deck, a CIC and, of course, private quarters for myself.'

James frowned. 'The only different thing I heard from the SR-2 was the weapons deck. Now that we can't do anything anyway, care to show us that deck?' Illusive Man grinned. 'So you're interested, after all. Very well, who am I to stand in the way of curiosity?' The elevator opened and James would've been impressed, if this wasn't an enemy ship.

The entire length of the ship had been upgraded with turrets, and the front had three extra cannons as well. 'Are those all Thanix cannons?' he asked. Illusive Man nodded. 'Yes indeed, Lieutenant-Commander Vega. Thanks to our spy in the Alliance ranks, we got the schematics for the Thanix cannon and we used it on our SR-3. Now we have the ultimate warship!'

Ashley shook her head. 'You're still out of your league if you went up against the new Alliance flagship!' she sneered. Illusive Man turned around and now she could see his eyes perfectly well. Illusive Man's eyes weren't normal, after all. They weren't even grey, they were white. It was almost like he was…

'Yes, you can see very well, Commander Williams,' Illusive Man suddenly said. 'I am, indeed, as blind as a bat.' Ashley took a step back. 'How did you-' One of the Cerberus Troopers cut her off by gripping her arm more tightly. 'Don't ask too many questions, you're still a prisoner here!'

Illusive Man grinned. 'That's right. You two are prisoners until we finally convince you that what we're doing is still in humanity's best interests!' Ashley sighed. 'You sound just like the original, only you're not under the influence of Reaper indoctrination.' Illusive Man sighed. 'And convincing you might take some time, I understand that. But have no worries, you'll be working for me very soon!'

With those words, Ashley and James were escorted back to the prisons. Once in their cell, James started snickering. 'You know, I'm kinda wishing Shepard was here, now. I bet he'd be able to bust us out of this ship!'

'I can, but you're gonna have to help me with it!' another voice said. A voice Ashley and James knew all too well. They looked outside their cell, to the other side and saw someone they thought they'd never see again. And in unison, they yelled: 'Shepard!'

**Thanks for reading, hope you enjoyed. Please review on this story as it helps me out very much and, as always, have an awesome day!**


	3. Chapter 3 - Taking back the ship

**Remnants of Cerberus**

Chapter 3 – Taking back the ship

Ashley could immediately see that this was not the Shepard she used to know. 'Is it really you?' she asked out of disbelief. Solemnly, Shepard nodded. 'Yeah, it's me alright. I'm not another one of those clones we encountered on the Citadel, if you remember that little adventure.'

Ashley grinned when hearing that. She remembered all too well what happened on the Citadel. It was almost hilarious, really. All that trouble of finding out who was trying to kill Shepard and it turned out to be his own clone.

James stood up slowly. 'If you're the real Shepard, then we got nothin' to worry about, right?' he said. 'You knew your way around and out of every trap, I'm pretty sure we can get out of this one, too!'

Shepard smiled. 'You still know me pretty well, James,' he said. 'Yeah, I do have a plan, but I needed more than one person for it to work. So listen carefully and we'll be taking this ship in no time.'

James frowned. 'You were never one for taking ships, Shepard… You were always a trailblazer. Why steal this ship?' he asked. Shepard frowned. 'Because they destroyed the SR-2, and I'm pretty tired of the bad guys blowing up my ship!'

James grinned widely and Ashley nodded in approval. Shepard narrowed his eyes. 'Wait a second… You two are together, aren't you?' he asked. Ashley shuffled around awkwardly a bit and James simply looked away. Shepard grinned. 'Figured this would happen since I threw that party. I'm happy for both of you.'

Ashley shook her head. 'Let's just focus on how to get out of here, okay?' she said. Shepard nodded. 'Yeah, you're right. Alright, let's do this. We'll need to wait for the next guard shift,' he said. Ashley and James both saluted and sat back down, waiting for the right opportunity.

And sure enough, an hour later the guard shift changed. Shepard had already instructed Ashley and James on what to do, and now the plan went into motion. Shepard had secretly made a stick with which he could knock the guard unconscious and steal his access to every part of the ship, but he had to do it whilst staying unseen.

Ashley groaned heavily and called the guard. 'What's the matter, woman?' the man asked. Ashley pointed at her chest. 'My chest really hurts, could you take a look?' she asked. James had to do his best not to laugh, he could almost see the man blushing underneath his helmet. On the other hand, he felt offended because Ashley was actually offering her body to someone else. Someone from Cerberus, for that matter.

The guard took his helmet off and crouched next to the cell. 'Alright, take your shirt off and I'll see what's…' His sentence was cut off by a loud WHACK and he fell to the floor, skull caved in. James held up his thumb. 'It worked, we're good to go!' he said.

Ashley was the first to run towards the elevator and opened it. Coast was clear, she gestured James and Shepard to come over. Then Shepard said: 'Bring us to the private quarters, I'm going to rummage through Illusive Man's files.'

James replied: 'That's all good and well, but I feel a little uncomfortable without a weapon in my hands, here. Anywhere we can get some straps?' Shepard thought it through. 'No, files first, weapons second. If anyone sees us in Illusive Man's private quarters, it won't be a problem. Otherwise we'll alert the entire ship of our escape.'

James nodded. 'Alright Loco, lead on,' he said. Shepard touched the elevator screen and they started going up. While going up, Shepard asked: 'About Tali… Is she okay?' Ashley nodded. 'Yeah she is, but she's still grief-stricken over your 'death'. I think we should let you meet her back on Earth when we're done here. Everyone escaped the Normandy's destruction, luckily.'

Shepard sighed out in relief. 'That's good to hear,' he replied. Then the elevator arrived at the assigned destination. Shepard was the one to step out first and he went immediately for the nearest desk. He started pillaging it, taking everything he could with him.

James raised an eyebrow. 'You still love making a mess of things, huh?' he said. Shepard sniggered. 'You offend me, James. Do I look like a decent person to you?' James laughed and Ashley started to smile as well.

Then Shepard turned serious. 'Coming up here was a good plan, I found something quite disturbing,' he said. James sat down next to him while Ashley watched the entrance for potential visitors.

'Look at this,' Shepard said, pointing at something on a small holoscreen. 'This is the Illusive Man's flagship, but there's also other SR models being built right now. We have to stop this!'

Shepard stood back up, took the information with him and stepped back inside the elevator, followed by Ashley and James. James then immediately touched the elevator screen to go to the armory deck.

Shepard sighed. 'Damn, I thought I was done fighting. Since you're so eager to pull a trigger, James, I'll let you lead on,' he said. James hesitated before getting out of the elevator, but shrugged and went on anyway.

The weapons were found soon enough. Then Shepard let out a curse of nostalgia. 'What the hell… Well, would you look at this!' he said. James turned around, only to be greeted by the sight of a Lancer in Shepard's hands.

Shepard grinned like an idiot. 'This used to be my favorite gun, and they have more than fifty stored here!' he said. James grinned. 'Yeah well, what would you expect from people who keep stealing Alliance Intelligence?' he replied. Ashley picked up a Lancer, tested its weight and aim and nodded contently. 'Yeah, I love this weapon, too,' she said. 'It has good balance, good aim, and it works on heat, not heat sinks.'

James let out a surprised whistle. 'These babies have unlimited ammo… I like it!' he said. They turned around with their guns aiming at the elevator, just as a Cerberus Trooper came out of the elevator. He hadn't taken one step before he was punctured by at least twenty bullets.

James sniggered. 'Back to the good old days, huh, Loco?' he said. Shepard laughed. 'Yeah James, back to the good old days!' he replied. Everyone stepped into the elevator and got ready to clear out all the decks.

Then they heard a voice through the intercom: 'Alert! The prisoners have escaped! The boss has already taken a shuttle back to base, stop these bastards from taking our flagship!' Shepard hit the wall. 'Damn it! He escaped!' Ashley put a hand on his shoulder. 'Hey, at least we'll be taking his most important asset,' she answered.

James interrupted their chat: 'Guys, we don't have time for this. We're about to arrive on the CIC!' Everyone got ready for a fight and a fight is what they got as soon as they stepped out of the elevator.

It took them half an hour to clear out the entire ship, but they did it. Shepard threw the gun aside. 'Well, that went better than expected!' he said. Ashley and James both agreed with him. Then James thought of something.

'Hold on a second… We killed everyone, right?' he said. Ashley nodded. 'Yeah, we made sure we killed everyone… Why?' she asked. James shook his head. 'Who's gonna steer the ship now?!' he yelled. Both Shepard and Ashley looked at James, as if they were expecting something.

'What, why are you two looking at me?' James asked. Ashley and Shepard kept staring at him. James knew he wasn't going to get out of this. 'Alright, alright… But don't complain if we get back to Earth with a bit of damage, okay?' he said. He sat down in the pilot's chair and Shepard and Ashley took the chairs next to him. 'Hang tight guys, we're going home!' James yelled. And he engaged the hyperdrive.

**Thank you very much for reading, hope you enjoyed this chapter. If you liked this chapter, please leave a review as it really helps me out and, as always, have an awesome day!**


	4. Chapter 4 - Alliance Alarmed

**Remnants of Cerberus**

Chapter 4 – Alliance Alarmed

As soon as the Chronos entered Alliance space, a ship noticed them and hailed them. James picked up the incoming connection . 'Who are you? State your business here, unidentified vessel!' an Alliance rookie yelled into the microphone. Everyone onboard the Chronos cringed, he was yelling way too loud.

To everyone's surprise, it was Shepard who answered: 'Stand down, Marine. This is Commander Shepard, I'm here with Commander Ashley Williams and Lieutenant-Commander James Vega. We're requesting to dock and to hand this ship over to the Alliance.'

There was a short radio silence, but then the answer came in: 'Very well, you may dock. But you are to immediately report to Admiral Hackett Jr. He wants to see you. And his old man does, too. Follow me, I'll escort you to the docks.'

Both ships flew down into Earth's atmosphere. James felt assured when he saw Alliance HQ – a massive building in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean, it stretched several kilometers wide, far and high. Hundreds of ships were already docked, but the rookie was guiding them to a specific location. Shepard's heart skipped a beat when he recognized Docking Bay 47, his good old private docking bay. It had been kept free for this long, no ship had docked there in a long time.

The Chronos docked, the airlock opened, and Admiral Hackett Jr. stepped in. Shepard, who was still in the bridge with James and Ashley, said: 'You guys go on ahead, I'll catch up later.' James nodded and took Ashley by the hand to see Hackett.

When the three met, the first thing they did was salute each other. Then Hackett gave both Ashley and James a hand. 'I'm aware of the loss of the Normandy. I'm very sorry to hear that we lost our flagship and you two lost your home. But you did well in capturing the enemy flagship and returning it to us. We now have crucial intel. Cerberus has returned.'

Hackett looked around confused. 'I thought Shepard was with you. The man who defeated the Reapers three years ago. Where is he? I was pretty sure I heard his voice aboard your ship.' James looked back at the Chronos, then at Ashley. She nodded encouragingly. James sighed and said: 'Yeah, Shepard is on board. He was alive all those years, but he's not who he used to be.'

A short silence. Then Hackett said: 'I see. If you don't mind, I'll want to talk to him personally. Is he still in the ship?' Ashley nodded. 'He is. He's in the bridge.' They saluted each other again and parted ways.

Three days later, while James and Ashley were going out on Silversun Strip, all the holoscreens blacked out and the news came on: The announcer said: 'The war hero Commander Shepard was believed to be dead, but due to a recent discovery, he was found very much alive. He has returned to the Alliance and has been promoted to Admiral of the Fifth Fleet!'

James grinned. 'They finally gave him the rank he deserves, huh?' he said. Ashley shook her head. 'Nah. He's supposed to be out in the field, not commanding ships. But then again, he's different from the past. Let's focus on our date, shall we?' and she winked. James laughed, took her hand and went to the Armax Arsenal Arena.

After three Arena matches, some gambling at the casino and a little bit of playing games at the arcade, the two returned to Shepard's old apartment. As soon as the door closed, Ashley ran toward the hot tub, shouting: 'How about we kick back a bit, huh?' 'I'll be right there!' James shouted back.

While Ashley stepped inside the hot tub, James headed for the horizontal bar to do pull-ups. His old record was beaten by Shepard, it was a total of 185 pull-ups. He intended to beat it. He started pulling himself up, hanging down and going up again. He soon lost track of time as he continued to train. But he kept counting. And sure enough, he eventually hit the 200-mark. He jumped to the ground, rolled his shoulders a couple of times and cracked his neck.

'Ash, you still in the hot tub?' he yelled. 'Yeah, I'm still waiting for you, slowpoke!' she answered. James took off his clothes and snuck to the hot tub, where Ashley was still relaxing in the hot water. James had the jump on her, so when he grabbed her shoulders and yelled: 'BOO!', Ashley immediately grabbed him by the neck and pulled him under water.

James came up gasping for air. 'What'd you do that for?' he said. Ashley raised an eyebrow. 'You know better than to attack me from behind, Jimmy.' James let his shoulders hang. But Ashley cheered him up by kissing him. 'Don't worry about it, I'm just playing!' she said with a smile. James smiled back and the two kissed each other again, longer this time.

After the two had their fun and were done bathing, they went to their bedroom and laid down on the bed. Ashley laid her head on James' chest while he wrapped one arm around her. After a while, Ashley asked: 'Do you think that Cerberus is gonna put us back in those good old days?' James thought on it for a minute. Then he answered: 'Right now, I'm not sure. But if Shepard was standing here, he would've said yes for sure. So I'll go with my gut and say yes, too.'

**Deep Space**

Illusive Man walked from one side of the room to the other and back again continuously. Unlike the original Illusive Man, this one was less calm and mysterious. This one liked to be doing something, all the time.

He looked up with his white, blind eyes when one of his officers came in. 'Sir, the Chronos has been stolen and taken to the Alliance. And they have Shepard, too. One of your clones was on board, but we lost contact with it.'

Illusive Man stopped walking and looked at the officer. The man felt as if Illusive Man was staring into his eyes, even through his helmet. 'I see,' was the reaction he got. 'So that means the Alliance is now also once again aware of our existence?' The officer nodded. 'They are, sir. I heard their comm chatter firsthand. Shepard is an Admiral and they're renaming and retrofitting our old flagship. We could have a serious problem if we don't sabotage that ship!'

Illusive Man grinned. 'That's where you're wrong, my friend,' he said. He walked to the side of his office, where a dark window was placed. He pressed a button in the corner, revealing what was behind the window. And behind was a massive hangar… containing hundreds of SR-models.

**That's it for chapter 4! Thank you for reading, hope you enjoyed. Please leave a review as it really helps me out and, as always, have an awesome day!**


	5. Chapter 5 - The Crew

**Remnants of Cerberus**

Chapter 5 – The Crew

James overlooked the scene as the Normandy's crew stepped out of the Chronos. First came Liara, then Tali. They were followed by Joker, Cortez, Traynor and Garrus. Ashley came standing next to James. 'Do they know that Donnelly and Chakwas are dead?' she asked. James shook his head. 'No, but we'll let them know when the entire crew comes together, okay?' he replied. Ashley nodded shortly and turned away to talk to Admiral Hackett.

In the meantime, Tali looked around and she recognized James. She walked up to him and said: 'I've heard talk of Shepard still being alive. Is it true? Is the man I love still alive?' she asked. James pointed back at the Alliance HQ building. 'Yeah, it's true. He's the one that helped us escape in the first place. He's an admiral now, you can find him in his own office. Upper floor, last door in the hallway.' Tali thanked him and headed straight for the building.

Then Garrus came to James and grabbed his hand. 'Been a rough ride, eh, Vega?' he said. James laughed and replied: 'Yeah, you could say that! Say, how come they found you only now? I thought they went through the entire ship yesterday!'

If Garrus could grin, he would be doing so right now. 'Well, let's just say that someone got very impatient of being in a cell and started making a lot of noise. The screams drew people to us and they, in turn, freed us.' James let go of Garrus' hand and frowned. 'Someone screamed? Who would be so damn impatient as to scream, just for being in a cell for a bit long?' he asked.

Garrus brought his face closer to James' and held his hand up whilst talking silently: 'Well, you wouldn't believe it… But Liara got so sick of the cell and her biotics being blocked off that she started screaming… Loudly.' James then raised an eyebrow. 'Liara, huh… No, you're right. I don't really believe she has it in her to do something like that!' And they both laughed out loud.

'Shepard!' Tali yelled, and she hugged him tightly. Shepard laughed and hugger her back, and a teardrop rolled over his cheek. 'I missed you, Tali,' he said. 'I missed you too, Shepard,' she replied, flustered. She then took a step back and removed her mask, revealing a beautiful face behind it. 'The Geth have improved our lifestyle, Shepard. We're able to walk without masks now.'

Shepard's eyes softened as he stepped forward. Tali fell into his arms and he kissed her, something he hadn't done in years. When he let go, Tali asked: 'Since Cerberus is back… will you take command of the mission to destroy them?' Shepard sighed and shook his head. 'No, Tali. I'm done fighting. What I want now is to spend as much time as possible with you.' And just before their lips locked again, he said: 'I love you, Tali. Keelah se'lai.'

A few hours later, the full crew of the old SR-2 was gathered in Shepard's office, Shepard himself included. He looked around to see familiar faces around him. But someone was missing. 'Where's Javik?' he asked. James stepped forward. 'They only found his body just today, Shepard. Cerberus was performing tests on his body onboard the Chronos. He didn't survive.'

A short silence. 'Where are doctor Chakwas and Donnelly, then?' he asked. Ashley was the one to answer, this time. 'They were also killed. Cerberus tried to interrogate them. As soon as was clear that they wouldn't yield, they were executed. They kept the rest of us alive as leverage.'

Shepard nodded. 'I see… We can have a funeral for them, but it'll have to wait. Right now, we need to deal with the matter at hand. Cerberus has returned.' Everyone remained silent. Shepard continued: 'As you all might well know, I'm in no shape to lead missions anymore. Damn, I'm in my thirties and I already feel too old to lead you all into the fray again… But you still have a capable Commander, guys. And she's here with us today.'

He looked at Ashley, who in turn stepped forward. 'Are you sure I'm right for this leading business, Shepard?' she asked. Shepard grinned. 'I've known you for longer than today, Ash. You've got the Commander rank, and you're a Spectre, too. I've seen what you can do and I'm more than confident that you can do this.' Ashley smiled and backed up again.

Shepard now looked at everyone in turn. 'I know I haven't seen you all in a very long time, and that you all thought I was dead. How I survived the ordeal doesn't matter. What matters is that we're here today and somehow, Cerberus is, too. I saw the Illusive Man shoot himself through the head back on the Citadel, but even I have to admit he outsmarted me. By cloning himself, he made sure Cerberus would never fall to pieces. But right now, it's our goal to destroy their organization once and for all!'

Another short pause. Then Shepard grinned and said: 'But first, I'm ordering you all to take shore leave. Party in my apartment guys, and you're all invited!' Now everyone started laughing and cheering. James just grinned. 'Back to the good old days…' he mumbled.

Everyone in the Citadel was going about their business peacefully… Except the Normandy Crew. The party in Shepard's apartment had reached his climax. Which was the point where everyone was laughing at Shepard's dancing skills. 'You still think I can't dance?' he yelled. Wrex, who had come to the Citadel from Tuchanka especially for this party, said: 'Sometimes you get more skilled at things Shepard… But you never gained any more skill at dancing!'

Grunt, who was next to him, laughed his rumbling laugh. 'That's right, Shepard, even I can dance better than you! And I'm a Krogan! Everyone laughed once again and they spent the rest of the night dancing, talking and having a good time.

Once again, a picture was made of the crew. But this time, Javik was missing from the picture. Shepard held a short memorial ceremony for him. Then everyone went to bed to prepare for the next days of shore leave.

With Tali in bed next to him, Shepard sighed. 'What's wrong?' Tali asked softly. He shook his head. 'Nothing, it's just… This really reminds me of those old days. The party I threw just before we attacked Cronos Station… And you in bed next to me, of course!' Tali sniggered. 'You're still an idiot, Shepard… But you're MY idiot!' The two kissed and then fell asleep together.

In another room, Ashley and James were also still awake. Ashley shuffled around in the bed uncomfortably. 'Am I lying too close to you?' James asked. Ashley gave him a little nudge. 'It's not that, you ass,' she said with a grin. 'No, it's the responsibility I have now. I'm leading an important mission and if I fail to lead us all, the Alliance is gone.'

James hugged her a bit tighter. 'You worry too much, Ash. We can make it, you know we can. We're the best damn soldiers in the galaxy, after all!' Ashley smiled, turned around and sat on top of James. 'Not just the best with being soldiers, farm boy,' she said. Suffice to say, they stayed awake for quite a while longer.

Two weeks later, Shepard gathered everyone in docking bay D24. 'I have something to show you, everyone,' he said. Joker stepped forward. 'You didn't!' he said. But Shepard pressed a button and the window shading went down. And it revealed the ship.

The paint was blue, it was larger than the SR-1 and the SR-2 together and it looked simply magnificent. The design was a combination between the first two models. The engines were placed in the style of the SR-2, but they could re-adjust like the SR-1. The front was as sharp-looking as ever and Joker was almost drooling. And the name of the ship was visible, clear as day: Normandy.

**That's it for this chapter. Thank you very much for reading, hope you enjoyed. Please leave a review as it really helps me out and, as always, have an awesome day!**


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